Constellation Comparisons
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Draco Malfoy thinks it's just going to be another night when he gets an Astronomy Detention. Luna Lovegood, however, proves him wrong.


Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling.

I came up with this idea because I wanted to try my own Luna/Draco fic, since a lot of the ones I've seen require really dramatic circumstances for them to interact and I just wanted to have a go at something a little more simple.

Enjoy!

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The only thing Draco Malfoy disliked at Hogwarts more then a particular group of Gryffindors; it was getting a detention. Particularly when it wasn't his fault that he had one. (Or, at least, that's what he would say if he was trying to pin it on one of his cronies, Crabb and/or Goyle.)

He was rather skilled at doing this, but tonight he just hadn't been able to. He hoped this didn't mean he was losing his touch.

So it was with something more then just the standard reluctance that the Slytherin boy went to his Astronomy detention. After all, nobody wants to get up in the middle of the night to stare at the sky as a punishment. You could tell it was more that Draco was more annoyed rather then reluctant, as he tended to swagger and sneer a little more when annoyed.

Really, though, he didn't think it was necessary to have to do a stupid detention, just for levitating that stupid Hufflepuff boy's telescope over the tower so that it smashed into pieces on the ground below. He couldn't really even remember why he'd done it. But in Draco's opinion, Professor Sinistra just felt sorry for the boy and had given Draco a stupid detention, when really it was an extreme reaction.

He had half a mind to just not show up at all, but he didn't want that hag Professor McGonagall breathing down his neck. Everyone knew that she favoured the Gryffindors anyway, so he wanted to avoid her as much as he could.

This thought caused a scowl to cross Draco's face as he walked, opening a door to his right. He was sure that if it had been the famous Potter, then he would probably just have wriggled out of a punishment, let alone received anything like a detention.  
_  
I mean,_ thought Draco arrogantly, heading up the last flight of stone stairs and kicking a suit of armour on his way past, ignoring the twinge of pain in his big toe, _Can't they have just docked points or something?_

* * *

Opening the door to the balcony, Draco was pleased to see that the only people there was the person supervising the detention and a blonde girl he didn't know. The night was clear and cloudless, a perfect night, ironically, for Stargazing. There were a few telescopes still cluttered around the edges of the balcony, along with a few wooden chairs.

Sweeping right past the supervisor, (he was pleased to see Professor Sinistra was not there) who was sitting behind a desk near the door and reading _The Daily Prophet_, Draco seated himself as far away from the woman as possible, which was unfortunately rather near the blonde girl.  
She didn't turn around from her telescope, even though Draco scraped the nearest chair rather noisily toward him.

Sitting down, he cast a rather disgruntled look at the back of the girl's dark blonde head, before picking out his star chart and moodily slapping it down on the small board that was attached to the telescope.

Promptly forgetting about her as he wiped at one of the eyepieces with his sleeve, Draco was just about to look through the telescope, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hello."

He turned to see the girl had turned around, then he instantly recognised her. Luna Lovegood. Draco didn't know her at all, personally, but her reputation as an oddball wasn't exclusive to the Ravenclaws.

Besides, the butterbeer cork necklace, dark green quill tucked behind her right ear and the weird onion-like object that was poking out of her bag was a bit of a giveaway. He didn't respond to her greeting, he just raised an eyebrow.

"What are you here for?" Luna asked him peaceably, apparently either oblivious or choosing to ignore his silence. "You know, for detention."

Normally, Draco Malfoy would have considered this question to be stupid and chosen to ignore it, but he felt like boasting, and there weren't any witnesses around to see he was actually having a conversation with Loony Lovegood, of all people.

"Smashing up the telescopes." Draco responded, sounding indifferent, but he allowed a giveaway smirk to cross over his face when Luna looked mildly impressed by his little exaggeration, her protuberant blue eyes widening.

"I told Professor Sinistra about the extra moon Earth has. She didn't believe me, though, and she got quite annoyed when I told her all about the article that Daddy printed."

Luna explained this quite cheerfully, even though Draco had shown no inclination that he cared whatsoever. Ignoring Draco's derisive snort, she went on, "So she told me that I wasted time in the lesson and had to do my homework in detention."

"Right." sneered Draco, his mouth set contemptuously.

But Luna smiled, as if he had just complimented her, or possibly stated what a stupid woman Professor Sinistra was.

Draco turned away at this point, feeling puzzled, wondering if all insults simply bounced off Loony. He hadn't really considered that somebody could just be utterly unaware of any of his jibes. The fact she might not really care did not occur to him once. Luna returned to her telescope as well, though she hummed serenely under her breath as she peered into it, absently tracing the Ravenclaw badge on the front of her robes. The two of them were quiet for a few minutes, both blonde heads bowed over their telescopes.

"Draco." hummed Luna Lovegood suddenly, withdrawing her head from the telescope and staring up at the inky blue sky with a smile painted on her face.

Draco started.

"Excuse me!?" he cried, his indignation flaring up at once. How dare this...this..._girl_ use his first name! Luna shook her head, and pointed upwards.

"No, that Draco. The constellation."

"Oh." supplied Draco, suddenly feeling very stupid.

A slight tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks, which only annoyed him even further. First she had gone and contradicted him, and now she was making him blush! The rational part of Draco's mind pointed out that it wasn't on purpose, and that it was more his fault to jump to conclusions. So instead of retaliating, Draco merely settled for giving a small 'humph' and returning to his telescope, but Luna Lovegood wasn't finished.

"And that's Bellatrix," she added, pointing to each cluster of stars in turn. "That one is Andromeda, there's Cygnus...and I think that one is Sirius."

"Those are their _names_?" Draco asked, trying to sound mocking and incredulous, but curiosity managed to bleed its way into his voice.

"Oh, yes." Luna responded, eyes roving the sky appreciatively as though it was an interesting and mysterious animal, "I read somewhere it was a theme in the Black family to name their children after constellations, you know. And then, Luna is Latin for 'Moon'."

"I knew that," retorted Draco, but once again he wasn't able to sound suitably irritated, and then Luna said, much to the Malfoy boy's surprise,

"It's odd, isn't it? Draco and Luna."

Draco was so surprised by this statement that he actually looked at her for a couple of seconds with his mouth slightly open. Really, what a random thing to say! Not to mention, well, forward! Did she think he was his new best friend or something?

Then a bell rang, making both Luna and Draco jump. Looking over, the superviser got up and left without even looking back, indicating that the detention was over. It had ended a lot more quickly then Draco had expected. He grumpily noticed that he hadn't managed to get very much work done at all, and by the looks of her Star Chart, neither had Luna.

Luna calmly stood up and picked up her Chart, rolling it up with hands that had very bitten fingernails and stowing it in her bag. Then she pulled out the mushroom-like object, holding it by one of its pale lime-coloured leaves before suddenly thrusting it into Draco's left hand.

"What the-?" Draco started, staring at the Gurdyroot, finding it very incongruous that she felt she could actually _touch_ him.

But when he looked up incredulously, he saw to his surprise that Luna was still smiling serenely at him.

"That's a Gurdyroot." Luna informed him, her hair shining slightly in the light of the moon as she pushed it off her shoulders. "They're really excellent for warding of Gulping Plimpies. You can have it."

Draco had NO idea what a Gulping Plimpy was, and he wasn't about to ask.

Smiling mysteriously, Luna turned and practically floated away toward the door, without so much as a glance behind her, leaving Draco standing there, holding the Gurdyroot with a totally shocked expression on his face. Shaking his head, he packed away his things and headed for the door, making sure to slam the door behind him.

Naturally, when he arrived back in the Slytherin common room, he was immediately greeted by Pansy Parkinson, Crabb and Goyle. Strangely, Draco didn't feel particularly pleased to see them.

"How was it, Draco?" crooned Pansy, as Draco settled himself in one of the best armchairs. Draco put on his best sneer and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Boring." articulated Draco airily, waving a careless hand, as Pansy simpered and Crabb and Goyle watched with predictable looks of admiration of their faces. "Nobody there anyway except some supervisor and Lu- I mean, Loony Lovegood."

"Oh, _her_." Pansy scoffed, as though this explained everything. "She's the weird one in Ravenclaw, isn't she?"

"Wouldn't know." Draco sneered; feeling suddenly like somebody had flicked on a switch inside him. A switch that was currently saying, _You sound like an idiot._

Luckily, Pansy did not notice Draco's expression falter, or that Draco had not remarked more upon the Ravenclaw girl. She was smiling over at Zabini Blaise, her head swaying and tossing in an attempt to flick her limp hair over her shoulders. Getting up like nothing had happened, Draco swiftly turned and walk away toward the boys dormitories, just closing the door as Pansy moved up on the settee for a couple of her Slytherin friends who had just entered the common room.

Collapsing onto his four-poster bed, Draco stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, trying to block out the noise of his fellow Slytherins downstairs until he finally drifted into sleep. The stars glittered at him as his eyelids slowly slid shut.

He kept the Gurdyroot.

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Thanks for reading!

Reviews are fun.


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